INTERVENTION BY THE PERMANENT OBSERVER OF THE HOLY SEE
AT THE 60th SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS COMMISSIONON HUMAN RIGHTS (15
MARCH - 23 APRIL 2004, GENEVA)

INTERVENTION BY H.E. MSGR. SILVANO MARIA TOMASI*

Thursday,
8 April 2004

Mr. Chairman,

1. The vast and growing phenomenon of human mobility reaches into the tens of
millions today: every country, of origin, transit and arrival, is directly
affected by it. These masses on the move are actors of globalization and
development through the contribution of their culture, their work and the
remittances they send home, higher than those given by rich countries as aid to
development. While basically a positive factor of modern societies, people on
the move become a source of political and social concern, and of untold
suffering to themselves, when their presence in a new environment is the result
of forced expulsions and violent conflicts, as in the case of refugees and
internally displaced persons, or of deception and exploitation, as in the case
of trafficked and smuggled persons. The international community has developed
structures and initiatives to address the needs and rights of the different
categories of people on the move. It studies ways and means to manage in a more
rational and productive manner a phenomenon with major national and global
implications. The Commission on Human Rights has focused its attention on the
more vulnerable groups, rightly beginning with women and children. There are, in
fact, subgroups of people among those moving across the globe that call for a
specific and continued concern because their human rights are more blatantly
trampled upon. The Delegation of the Holy See adds its appreciation for the
valuable reports of the Secretary General and of the Special Rapporteur
addressing these situations and looks forward to their continued contribution to
better the plight of all vulnerable migrants.

2. Among the violations of migrants' rights, traffic in humans is the worst.
It involves up to one million persons transported annually across national
borders. It is carried out for various types of exploitation of children, women
and men, subjecting them to slave-like conditions in work, sexual abuse and
begging, thus stripping people of their God given dignity and fuelling instead
corruption and organized crime. Trafficking has turned into a multi-billion
dollar industry. The recent entry into force of the Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children,
is an important step in protection. But regional mechanism and national
legislation are equally important to eradicate this scourge. Besides, it would
be opportune for national legislators to take into consideration the High
Commissioner for Human Rights' Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human
Rights and Human Trafficking. In the multilateral approach required to
combat trafficking, the collection and sharing of data, including of the
strategies and routes used by traffickers, becomes a significant tool to step up
both investigations and prosecutions. In the effort to dismantle criminal
networks the information that the victims of trafficking can provide is
invaluable. But clear legal protection for victims must be assured. However, the
victim’s readiness to testify in court should not be the condition for affording
protection. The best practice seems that of granting at least a temporary
residence permit to the victim as an encouragement to cooperate with the
judicial system but also as a possible opening for social integration in the
host society. This becomes a moral necessity if the return home would expose the
victim to retaliation. In any case, providing assistance and protection in both
countries of destination and origin and during the repatriation and
reintegration process is a generally recognized obligation.

3. If most of the trafficked persons are migrants who by different strategies
have been pressed into servitude, there are other vulnerable migrants who have
started their journey on their own and by any means of fortune and find
themselves in an irregular position in the receiving society.

In the shadowy world of their irregular status, fear and inability to stand
up for their rights leave these migrants at risk of unfair treatment and of
being co-opted in illegal activity. Immigration policies, that realistically
reflect the labour and demographic needs of the receiving societies would favour
their own and the immigrants' interest by opening regular channels of
immigration adequately wide to at least prevent the worst tragedies of lost
young lives of migrants crossing deserts or seas looking for a decent living The
application of labour laws can also go a long way in the protection of irregular
status migrants and to discourage this type of movement. Now that the
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrants Workers and
Members of Their Families has entered into force and its monitoring
Committee established, all migrants have an important instrument at their
disposal.

4. At the root of the migrations push we often find extreme poverty and the
alluring appeal of possible jobs and a freer and more humane life in the
countries of destination as powerfully projected by the global media.

5. In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, a multi-pronged approach appears necessary to
make human mobility a motor for progress even for its most vulnerable segments:
international cooperation in the prevention and prosecution of trafficking and
the rehabilitation of victims; less restrictive and more realistic immigration
policies; concerted promotion of sustainable economic and social development in
poor countries; a continued formation to a culture of human rights and respect
of the dignity of every person.